User Interviews

User Interviews

Part of the discovery-phase skill pack · evidence group · reads discovery-context.md (run profile-builder first if missing).

Direct user interviews. Run only when user_access allows it.

Step 1 — Read discovery context

Read discovery-context.md (section 4. Access & Data) and ./discovery/interview-guide.md if it exists.

If discovery-context.md is missing, ask the BA inline: "end-user access — direct / client-mediated / proxy-only / none?" — tag access-related notes [ASSUMED]. If the interview guide is missing, recommend running research-planning first or bootstrap a 4–5 question generic guide inline. Never block; recommend profile-builder for high-stakes work.

Access reality-check (warn + confirm, do not halt): if access is proxy-only or none, warn that direct interviews typically aren't reachable. Recommend switching to sme-workshops, support-data-analysis, or secondary-research. If the BA proceeds anyway (override path — friendly contact, independent recruiting), tag every note with [NO-ACCESS-OVERRIDE] and add a banner to _saturation-log.md: "⚠ Run with insufficient access — outputs are speculative."

Step 2 — Per-interview prep (15 min)

1. Open guide alongside a blank note doc.
2. Skim participant profile — LinkedIn, prior emails, any client-shared notes.
3. Confirm one objective for this specific interview (which research question lands heaviest with this person).

Step 3 — During the interview (45-60 min)

Optimize for these behaviors:

• Listen past the polite answer. First answer is rehearsed. Ask "what else?" and wait.
• Chase specifics. "Last time" > "usually". "Show me" > "tell me".
• Mirror silence. 5 seconds after an answer often produces the real answer.
• Note surprises inline with [!]. These are gold during synthesis.
• Capture quotes verbatim for anything that makes you raise your eyebrows.

Step 4 — Capture (within 24 hours)

Write ./discovery/interview-notes/p<NN>-<initials>.md per ./template.md.

Within 24 hours. Memory decays fast; Friday writeup of Tuesday interview = mostly fiction.

Step 5 — Saturation tracking

After each interview, write one line in ./discovery/interview-notes/_saturation-log.md:

P01 — new themes: A, B, C
P02 — new themes: D; confirmed: A
P03 — new themes: none; confirmed: A, B

Three consecutive "new themes: none" = saturation. Tell the user.

Output

• ./discovery/interview-notes/p<NN>-<initials>.md per participant
• ./discovery/interview-notes/_saturation-log.md running

Append to _log.md after every interview: [user-interviews | YYYY-MM-DD] participant: P<NN>; takeaway: <one-line>.

Handoff

Next: insight-synthesis once saturation reached or window closes.

Anti-patterns

• Pitching mid-interview. The moment you describe a solution, signal dies. If asked "so what are you building?" → "honestly still figuring out — what would an ideal solution even look like to you?" and route back to past behavior.
• Batching writeup at week-end. By Friday, Tuesday is fuzzy.
• Editing quotes for grammar. Verbatim, including filler. The 1-2 quotes per interview that land in the final memo need authentic voice.
• Re-scoping mid-round. If first 2 interviews reveal the problem is different — finish the round, then loop problem-framing.